A/N: Heh heh... sorry guys, chapter was kinda late.

It's mostly my fault this time, I finished the chapter kinda late in the week and didn't have time to show it to Tawnis. But I didn't wanna post without him at least looking. Which was a good idea because he tamed some of my... extreme ideas. So the wait was worth it from my POV.

Still though, sorry guys.

Also in all the chaos I didn't get a chance to show it to Port. That being said I did have two people proof read it so, there shouldn't be any errors.

And from now on "/-/" equals POV change in the same scene

[EDIT 4/6/21, corrected beta names.]

Betas: TwistedFilms, Tawnis

Kazuto slinked down the shadowed alley with practiced ease, his form muddled by the long black overcoat he wore. He came to a stop where its walkway met the street. He came to a stop where it's walkway met the street and peered across to a small manor on the far side.

It was slightly smaller than the Yuuki household, built in a traditional Japanese style with a large wall surrounding it. Said wall was going to be a problem, since Kazuto could see armed guards patrolling its perimeter. Still, even he could appreciate the beauty of it under the moonlight

He reached inside his coat and wrapped his hand around the grip of his handgun before thinking better of it. Kikuoka had asked for no casualties, and whilst Kazuto did not particularly care about collateral damage, he knew there'd be trouble if Kikuoka found out he went in guns blazing. Instead, his hand went into one of the many internal pockets of the coat, before coming back out clutching a thin wire with handles on either side.

He waited for one of the patrolling guards to walk around the manor's perimeter before he made his way across the street, towards him. Approaching the guard from behind, he wrapped the garrote around his throat and pulled. The man immediately dropped his rifle and raised his hands to scratch and tear at the sudden weapon. Kazuto was momentarily surprised when the guard suddenly changed tactics and went for his sidearm instead. Not many people retained the ability to think logically whilst being choked out, after all.

Blocking the holster with his knee, Kazuto pushed the man against the wall to limit his mobility. The scared guard managed to look back at Kazuto for just a moment, and whatever he saw in his eyes seemed to make his struggle grow even fiercer. It was for naught, however, as he soon weakened in Kazuto's arms before falling unconscious.

Kazuto laid the guard down gently on his back.

"Nothing personal," he whispered as he checked over the unlucky sentry's gear. Kazuto took the I.D. card first - it might come in handy if there happened to be any electronic doors blocking his path - the pistol and radio followed soon after. Kazuto briefly considered taking the man's uniform as well, a basic, two-piece black suit, before thinking the better of it. Kikuoka had mentioned that this place only had a few guards, which meant that most of them would probably be able to recognize the others by face alone.

So instead, Kazuto opted to take the guard's discarded rifle, a G36C, checking the magazine as he did so. Satisfied with the amount of bullets, he pushed it back into the gun and slung it over his shoulder.

Checking around the corner, he could see two more guards stationed at the entrance. He could easily take them out, but doing so without raising an alarm would be challenging. Therefore, he moved to inspect the wall instead. It was about three and a half to four meters tall; half a meter on the bottom being decorative stone leading to three meters of solid concrete. Resting on the top was a small, roof-like overhang. Scaling it wouldn't be difficult per se, but he was worried about what would be waiting for him on the other blue-prints Kikuoka had given him only covered the main house, and he didn't want to risk falling head-first into the guard's break room.

A cursory glance back at the entrance showed no difference in circumstance. His decision made, he backed up a bit before running directly at the wall. His boot hit the rough surface and pushed off it, propelling his body back and up. He caught the lip of the overhang with his fingers, digging them into the hooked edge. Taking a quick breath, he then proceeded to pull himself up and onto the surface.

Peering down at the other side, he found an empty courtyard. Actually, He thought 'courtyard' may have been the wrong word...

It was more like a sprawling, traditional Japanese garden. Satisfied by the apparent lack of sentries, he dropped down into the garden, hitting the ground with a roll. He moved to a nearby rock and listened out, only continuing when he was sure an alarm had not been raised.

Reaching into his coat, he pulled out his favorite handgun, a Maxim 9, famous for being one of the quietest integrally suppressed handguns chambered in 9mm. The subsonic rounds he had loaded only added to that quality. And whilst he wasn't supposed to kill anyone tonight, he doubted the guards would have those same reservations, should they be so unlucky as to spot him. In that way, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Deciding that speed was better than stealth, he made a break for the main house. The building was large, dwarfing the old Kirigaya residence by a significant amount. The traditional look of it only accentuated its size. Kazuto briefly marveled at its beauty, before mentally berating himself for doing so. There was no time for such distractions.

The minute he stepped into the light of the manor, an alarm was raised. Seconds later, he heard panicked chattering blasting through the stolen radio. Cursing his luck, he moved into the house with his gun raised.

Sorry Kikuoka…

Judging by the chattering on the radio, it sounded like the guards didn't actually know where he was. In order to preserve this advantage, he decided to forgo using the stolen rifle, and instead advanced through the first floor with his handgun. Kikuoka had told Kazuto that his target was in the third floor office, and would remain there even if the building went into lockdown. Apparently, the room was supposed to be well protected, which was proven true mere moments later as Kazuto crested the top of the stairs, only to meet the eyes of three guards.

His gun immediately snapped up and fired off four shots, before he dove for the nearest cover. As his back touched stone, he heard one of the men hit the floor. One of the others cursed before calling out to him.

"Come out with your hands raised! We have you outnumbered!"

Kazuto could hear a few more sets of boots coming into the large room. With calm movements, he reached into his coat, pulled out a small object and ejected the pin embedded in it.

These guards might think they had him by the balls, but in reality... the fun was just getting started.

/-/

"Come out and surrender! We have you outnumbered."

The guard who called out was a gentleman by the name of Kanda Sorata. Kanda had been surprised, to say the least, when the attacker had come out of nowhere and shot his partner. The grief that was associated with the death was pushed back. Fear had not been present in his mind, however. It was just one man, after all. That reassurance was reinforced when three more guards came down into the room, and promptly threatened when a small cylinder was tossed from behind the stone barrier.

"Fuck! Grenade, get down!"

Before anyone could move, however, the cylinder started spitting out thick, black smoke, filling the room in seconds.

"It's just smoke! Watch out, but don't shoot! We could hit one another in the crossfire!"

Kanda ignored the 'no shit sherlock' that came from the guard next to him, and scanned his surroundings. Due to the smoke, he could barely see his own gun, so visibility was shot.

Two light cracks echoed throughout the room, followed by a small thud. Kanda let off a single shot towards the muzzle flash, but it did not elicit any shouts of pain or panic, so he assumed it had missed. One of the other guards called out a second later.

"Hasegawa's dead! Does anyone have a vis-"

The guard was cut off with a gasp, his body hitting the floor a second later. Kanda cursed and swung towards where he had been standing. Another gasp sounded at the other side of the room, and Kanda pulled his sidearm, pointing the handgun one way and the rifle the other. He could barely hold them, his entire body shaking in terror. Just what kind of monster were they up against?

"Fuck this!" Kanda shouted as he aimed his sidearm in the rough direction of a nearby window and fired off six shots. The glass shattered, and the smoke quickly started to drift out into the evening wind. Before he could even get a good look at the now visible room, however, a short shout sounded to his left. He dropped the handgun and spun around with his rifle pointed towards the source. The guard standing there had a long dagger sticking out from his jugular, a gloved hand holding it in place. Kanda immediately pulled the trigger, and his rifle barked with automatic fire. The attacker dodged before the bullets even left the gun, however, and threw the knife towards him. The long blade grazed the side of Kanda's shooting hand, causing him to curse and drop it. That mistake was one he regretted instantly, as his hand shot to his combat knife.

Before he even managed to fully draw it, however, a sharp pain stabbed into his knee. Kanda fell down into a sitting position, only to see an assortment of small, needle-like weapons sticking out from his leg. They were shaped like golf tees, with a pointed tip.

He looked up and was shocked to find the attacker standing right in front of him. He slashed at the man with his knife, a desperate attack performed without much thought. The man simply caught his wrist with one hand whilst the other pulled a gun, resting it against Kanda's head.

The terror Kanda felt as the man pulled the trigger wasn't from the gun or his imminent death. It was from the man's eyes, and the complete lack of emotion they showed.

His body hit the floor a moment later

Kazuto burst through the third floor door with a bang, G36C flashing up towards the sole occupant of the small office. His gun dipped, however, when he saw that the man was knelt before a shrine. It was an older gentleman, with grey and black hair. His outfit consisted of a simple kamishimo, and he did not seem to be carrying any weaponry. As he rose to his feet, however, Kazuto noticed he was holding a Tachi. The curved sword remained in its sheathe as the man turned to face him.

"Ah... You must be the law. I was wondering when Tokyo would finally crack down on us."

His voice was deep and gravelly, and Kazuto spotted a pack of cigarettes on the desk that might indicate why.

"Well, you didn't make it easy. Paying off the police must have cost a pretty penny."

Kazuto's words had somewhat of a teasing edge to them. His cold demeanor quickly returned, however.

"Hagiwara Nobuhiko, you are under arrest for murder, extortion, illegal possession of a firearm, illegal discharge of a firearm, and crimes committed in virtual reality."

The man, Nobuhiko, shook his head slowly before drawing the long Tachi.

"You have the look of a man who values honor. Face me with a blade. If you beat me, I shall gladly accompany you."

Kazuto raised an eyebrow. Once upon a time, he may have taken the old man up on his offer. After all, he was certainly skilled enough with a sword to beat him. But he wasn't in the mood for games today.

"Counter offer."

He discharged the rifle into the man's knee.

"I shoot you and you come anyway."

Nobuhiko cursed him as he cuffed the poor bastard. Getting out with his captive would be a chore, especially since some of the guards were still around. He lifted the G36C back up and flicked it from semi to full-auto.

It was going to be an interesting night, at least.

Kikuoka pushed his way into the ratty bar with a growl. He looked around for a moment before his eyes landed upon the source of his anger sitting in the back corner. Moving through the crowd, he came up to the table and slammed his fist down on it.

"What the fuck was that?!"

Kazuto looked up at him with a bored expression that made Kikuoka want to throw him across the room.

"What was what? Jeez... Sit down."

Fuming, Kikuoka complied and glared at Kazuto.

"What was that mission?! I told you no casualties!"

Kazuto raised an eyebrow at him before taking a sip from his drink; bourbon. Kikuoka could tell just from Kazuto's relieved sigh. It was his favorite drink.

"Well, sorry, Kiks... but the alarm was tripped. You'd rather I be full of holes instead?"

Kikuoka bristled at the insinuation, before he regained his focus. Kazuto was trying to distract him.

"Don't give me that shit, Kirigaya! We both know you could have knocked them out just as easy!"

Kikuoka had seen the security footage from the fight. Underneath the cover of smoke, Kazuto could have easily aimed to disable rather than kill. He could see the logic behind it, it would be faster to kill them and move on. It still shook him to the core, however.

Kazuto gave him a grin that could only be described as feral.

"Now where's the fun in that?

Kikuoka shivered. It wasn't his words that caused the reaction, nor was it the vicious expression. No, it was his eyes. Those cold, grey orbs held no emotion, no joy. They bored deep into Kikuoka's own. When had Kirigaya become so cold-blooded? He could still remember when Nurse Aki had told him of Kazuto's guilt from killing in self-defense. Where had that boy gone?

"We don't do this for fun, Kirito-"

Kazuto interrupted him mid-sentence, slamming his hands down on the table.

"That is not my name!"

It was rare to see such raw emotion from him. A shame it was all negative.

"You... don't do this for fun," Kikuoka continued. "You do it to keep people safe. And you've obviously lost sight of that fact."

Kazuto settled back down into his seat and looked at Kikuoka as if to say 'so what?'

"I still get the job done, don't I? You wanted someone to hunt cyber-criminals and you got me."

Kikuoka prepared himself for his next words.

"Not anymore."

He had to admit, the shock on Kazuto's face was amusing.

"I'm suspending you."

Kikuoka awaited the outburst that was to come, and was not disappointed.

"What the fuck?! You can't just do that to me!"

Kazuto's voice was filled with shock more than anger, but the look on his face suggested he was still mad enough. "Why would you suspend me?"

Kikuoka sighed before answering.

"You are a liability. I know what happened to you was bad, but I can't have you causing blood-baths on your missions just because you are depressed."

Kazuto snarled and leaned back in his chair with a huff. Kikuoka got up to leave, but turned to address him one last time.

"Take some time off and work on yourself. I'll be in touch."

And with that, he pushed his way back through the thick crowds. As he exited the ratty bar, and the cold air bit at him, he only had one thought in his mind.

Please, Kirito... Come back to us.

/-/

Kazuto watched Kikuoka go with a sigh. He didn't hate the man, but many a night had been spent wondering why he still worked for him.

Kazuto raised his glass of expensive bourbon to his lips. Oh, yeah... That's why.

"Long night?"

He glanced over at the chair Kikuoka had just vacated, and was surprised to find a woman sitting there. She looked to be about his age, and had long, blonde hair.

Foreigner, his mind noted. Not that it mattered much.

"You could say that. Just got suspended."

The girl looked surprised for a moment, before she let out a sultry laugh.

"Hmm... Well, that's a shame. What are you going to do now?"

Kazuto let a small smirk creep its way onto his face as he shifted to face her.

"Well, I'll certainly have some more time in the evenings."

The woman leaned forwards a bit, a hint of cleavage showing. Oh yeah, this was definitely the stress relief he needed.

"Maybe I can help with that. The name's Emily Einzbern."

"Kazuto. Kazuto Kirigaya."

A/N: So I'm gonna try and get the chapter by sunday, but it might be a two week delay if I need to get back on schedual. We'll see how it goes I suppose.

I still don't have a cover for this fic, but thats more because I don't want to use fanart without the artist permission. And I kinda used the best SAO screenshot for Heartshot

Thanks for reading and as always please let me know what you think in the reviews!

Til next time.

Next chapter: March 21st (Hopefully)